frozen

[poltiregist]

This is for those that prepare . Winter is approaching , the presidential election is approaching , wars are escalating , so for those that face such things , know there is a reasonable possibility the electrical grid will be targeted and destroyed for the approaching cold months and possibly the " approaching years " will be gridles . So what have you done to prevent your family and self from freezing over the coming months ?

 

[SoulSeeker]

There's so much can happen, take out the electricity, poison the water supply, dirty bombs, nuking Nellis AFB and such. I'd rather just go as I'm ready for that and be one of the lucky one's.

 

[lonewolf]

just had solar panels fitted.

 

[poltiregist]

Much of todays homes are total electric . Sure for a few days many could cook over their charcoal grill . If they have charcoal . Their refrigerators would stop running , their deep freezes stop running , lights stop running , their television stop running , their cell phones for many would not be recharged , their hot water heater stop running , fuel pumps at the gas station stop running , grocery as well as all other stores shut down due to they all depend on electric for freezers and cash registers , for many water stop running and as the thread title suggests many would freeze to death .The electric grid would be an easy and very vulnerable target that could be attacked in multiple ways . According to a government study , if the electric grid was lost 90% of the United States population would die within a 12 month period .

 

[Snowman]

Thanks for answering the OP, saved me lots of typing, most convenient, starting a thread and doing the werk for everybody...!!! and it was only 4 posts...

 

[Alaskajohn]

An abundant supply of firewood and a good wood stove is a tried and true solution to freezing to death.

 

[Mountain trapper]

We heat with wood, completely on solar, two years worth of propane for water heater cooking, well pump and clothes dryer. Two years of diesel for the tractor and backup generator and two years of premium non ethanol gas for the small equipment; snow blowers, log splitter, ATV's, chainsaw etc.

 

[Sourdough]

High quality sleeping bags.

 

[poltiregist]

I have my firewood up for this year . As soon as a good freeze kills the ticks back I plan to be starting on firewood for the following winter . Right now as the situation stands I have a chainsaw and fuel for it . After S.H.T,F. that may not be available . I don't look forward to cutting firewood with a two man crosscut saw . I have already done that in years past and certainly hope things don't get to where that is necessary again . Ready to go is my wood heater as well as my wood cookstove . -- Imagine the plight of city folks if the electric grid is destroyed . They don't even have a wood heater or any wood to put in such a thing except I suppose they could burn up their wood furniture , which would only hold the cold back for just a few more hours . --- We are coming upon the ultimate time for enemies to destroy electrical grids . --- As a couple of members pointed out on the world war three thread . Enemies would like to have the land without it being ruined for their own use . So actually all they have to do is destroy the electrical grids , sit back and wait 2 or 3 years and it would be basically a vacant landscape as only a few that seriously prepared will be left populating the landscape . -- Even that crazy North Korean leader with his primitive nukes , likely has the ability to accomplish an E.M.P. or send a few of his crazy loyalist to physically attack key electrical installations . Perhaps even some smart computer geek could make the electrical instillations simply melt down with a cyber attack . It has already been proven in recent days geeks can make lithium batteries explode so what else are they capable of . Anyways even if someone is prepared to give up and die they should consider their kids and grandkids , if they have any and help provide them with an avenue to survive .

 

[Tirediron]

Good thread, might get people thinking, maybe just a tiny bit

 

[Amish Heart]

We have a wood burning stove and wood. Also a whole house generator and three portable generators, and solar. And portable propane and Mr Buddy heaters. But I'm the designated stove/firewood person, and I like to keep it going when it's cold.
Looking forward to that first burn of the season.

 

[dademoss]

People have been surviving for CENTURIES in less than paradise.

Pretty sure everybody here has some degree of preps, but what will be important is the ability to IMPROVSE, ADAPT, and OVERCOME.

Sure, there is firewood for THIS winter, what happens NEXT winter.

 

[Morgan101]

We have plans for power outages that would assure our safety. Much would depend on the length of the outage, and what utilities might be down. We have both gas and electric, so would both be down? We heat with gas, but everything else is electric. We have several ways to cook that would not require electricity. We have plans to consolidate where we would live in our house to conserve heat and stay warm. Fortunatelly, we are retired. so we would not have to go anywhere. We have ample food and water to hunker down and wait it out. Should a power outage last for multiple years it would be a whole new story.

 

[Mountain trapper]

If the US electric grid went down, we wouldn't know about it for awhile. We get all the electric we need from solar.

 

[Caribou]

We have a wood/coal stove with a flat top to cook on. There is a heat powered fan to circulate the heat to the far end of the house and plenty of blankets. I have a small supply of wood but a couple years worth of coal. The termites don’t bother my coal.

 

[poltiregist]

Perhaps some do not know , so for those I will explain . On some of the major power transfer stations and no doubt in power generating plants are these huge transformers . These transformers if it should be destroyed , they " can not " go to the warehouse and get a replacement transformer . These transformers are special and have to be built for that particular spot . For now if one should go out they simply redirect the electricity to keep the power grid operational . However if multiple of these special transformers are destroyed , then the power grid collapses . -- It takes months to build a transformer of this caliber . To make matters even worse , most if not all are built in China . So that leaves China with the option as to supply replacement transformers or simply wait a few years and then send in their huge ground forces to conduct a wipe up operation of any that might try to resist . Which do you think they would choose - take some inflated printed paper money for exchange of providing transformers or take and own the entire country ?

 

[Tim Horton]

A bit of a different perspective....
Living here at the ...Wrinkle Ranch... (senior housing) I have applied more than a fair number of strategies and lessons learned from living deep in the far north ...bush... Although there are some modifications that have to be made because of ..location..location..location..

Battery lamps, batteries, drinking cooking water, canned goods, a small 2 burner propane camp stove no one knows about... Plenty of clothes and bedding...

IMPROVSE, ADAPT, and OVERCOME. You get the idea...

 

[Pearl]

If you can't survive away from the world, you will die!

 

[Supervisor42]

This is for those that prepare . Winter is approaching , the presidential election is approaching , wars are escalating , so for those that face such things , know there is a reasonable possibility the electrical grid will be targeted and destroyed for the approaching cold months and possibly the " approaching years " will be gridles . So what have you done to prevent your family and self from freezing over the coming months ?

Moved to Louisiana.
About the same weather as Florida.
(I know, not the answer you were looking for, slings and arrows are welcome.)

 

[shanrose]

This is for those that prepare . Winter is approaching , the presidential election is approaching , wars are escalating , so for those that face such things , know there is a reasonable possibility the electrical grid will be targeted and destroyed for the approaching cold months and possibly the " approaching years " will be gridles . So what have you done to prevent your family and self from freezing over the coming months ?

I bought a kerosene heater and extra blankets. My husband reminds me of all the false alarms that we heard of that never came to pass. I think that these internet gurus who turn out to be controlled op do that intentionally so that people like my husband start thinking that it's ALL false. He's only half awake. He wastes so much time watching grown men throw a pigskin around that it's infuriating.

 

[Morgan101]

I bought a kerosene heater and extra blankets. My husband reminds me of all the false alarms that we heard of that never came to pass. I think that these internet gurus who turn out to be controlled op do that intentionally so that people like my husband start thinking that it's ALL false. He's only half awake. He wastes so much time watching grown men throw a pigskin around that it's infuriating.

Nothing wrong with being prepared. Blankets won't go bad, and when the time comes, you will be happy to have them.

 

[Tirediron]

Moved to Louisiana.
About the same weather as Florida.
(I know, not the answer you were looking for, slings and arrows are welcome.)

The south, will have the opposite problem if the grid gets taken down, the threat of hyperthemia.

 

[shanrose]

There's so much can happen, take out the electricity, poison the water supply, dirty bombs, nuking Nellis AFB and such. I'd rather just go as I'm ready for that and be one of the lucky one's.

Me too. I recall watching Geraldo Riveras (I never watched him but stumbled upon the right-to-die controversy online) where these people all had a loved one who was living in a body that no longer worked. This one woman said something that stuck with me: "There are things worse than death." The Viet Nam vets knew this and saved one bullet in the event that they were captured.

Some may disagree but my brother-in-law said this: "When you're born they should give you a pill to take yourself out so that you're not stuck living in a nursing home." Every single person that I've ever known who got dumped into a nursing home hated it. A friend went in and seeing her there was upsetting enough but she began to cry when she told us that she feels as if she was put there to die. She said that she felt like she was in high school again with the cliques, only you can't get away from them. She had very little privacy.

Some may like it but others would hate it. My mother-in-law demanded that my husband take her out. We didn't make the decision to put her in - my brother-in-law did. I said that I didn't agree with the decision but there was no way that we could care for her. She died an agonizing, slow death. If anyone thinks that putting someone in a nursing home is somehow better than allowing the elderly to leave their broken body and mind then maybe they should spend a week in one to see how they truly like it.

The problem is, it's near impossible to get the medication to end your suffering. They've actually prosecuted ill people who had medication imported from Mexico. It's so angering because drugs used to be legal over the counter. I've spoken with so many patients that were under the care of an unsympathetic doctor (they're not all like that). who decided that it was in their "best interest" that they should writhe in pain all day or they "might get addicted!" Horrors! We must fight the evils of drug addiction and ignore the evils of letting a person suffer. Now that makes sense.

Others may disagreee and feel that they need a doctor or the government overseeing their pain relief. It's really a skewed system when you think about it. Addicts can get whatever they want on the street but patients can't get what they need.

I guarantee that these folks aren't feeling any pain:

 

[shanrose]

If the US electric grid went down, we wouldn't know about it for awhile. We get all the electric we need from solar.

Wow you must have a large system. My hubby put solar on one of our vehicles but we don't get enough to power our heat for any length of time. And if we run the heater, we can't simultaneously run the coffee maker.

 

[lonewolf]

Much of todays homes are total electric . Sure for a few days many could cook over their charcoal grill . If they have charcoal . Their refrigerators would stop running , their deep freezes stop running , lights stop running , their television stop running , their cell phones for many would not be recharged , their hot water heater stop running , fuel pumps at the gas station stop running , grocery as well as all other stores shut down due to they all depend on electric for freezers and cash registers , for many water stop running and as the thread title suggests many would freeze to death .The electric grid would be an easy and very vulnerable target that could be attacked in multiple ways . According to a government study , if the electric grid was lost 90% of the United States population would die within a 12 month period .

12months? more like 6 months but the majority would be dead in 6 weeks to 2 months tops, especially in a freezing cold winter.

 

[shanrose]

An abundant supply of firewood and a good wood stove is a tried and true solution to freezing to death.

Have you ever tried a pellet stove? I was considering getting one because you don't need to vent them.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Wow you must have a large system. My hubby put solar on one of our vehicles but we don't get enough to power our heat for any length of time. And if we run the heater, we can't simultaneously run the coffee maker.

It provides all the electric we need for the house, shop, and the fur shed. Even though our solar system will run it, when I start a big load like the table saw, I'll use another generator for it.
We have a back up propane furnace for the house and our solar will run it too. On a cloudy day a large load will cause the backup generator to start.

 

[shanrose]

It provides all the electric we need for the house, shop, and the fur shed. Even though our solar system will run it, when I start a big load like the table saw, I'll use another generator for it.
We have a back up propane furnace for the house and our solar will run it too. On a cloudy day a large load will cause the backup generator to start.

What is the upkeep on them? Do parts go bad?

 

[Mountain trapper]

What is the upkeep on them? Do parts go bad?

The only upkeep that I have to do is add water to the batteries every few months, and change oil in the generator twice a year. I replaced my old battery bank 2 years ago and went with 12 - 2 volt batteries, at 1169 amp hours each. I have 2 solar arrays, one has 10 - 295 watt panels, the other has 4 - 415 watt panels. Each has its own charge controller at the inverter. I have a 12 kw Perkins diesel back up generator, with auto start, for when solar isn't enough. During summer the back up generator seldom runs. On a year round average the Perkins averages 1 hour per day run time.

 

[joel]

I have two wood stoves, a wood lot & a DW.
I think I will make it.